After The Curtain Has Dropped
by Starzangel
Summary: The curse has been lifted & Jack is free The show's over. What happens when the world has stopped watching? Jackcentric, oneshot COMPLETE


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Title: After The Curtain Has Dropped

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Author: Starzangel

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Disclaimer: Unfortunately for me, none of _Pirates of the Caribbean_ is mine. I only borrowed the concept and characters to have fun (but gain no profit) writing this story, which _is_ mine.

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Archive: If you're not FanFiction.Net, then please ask first via submitting a review (leave your email address & I'll get back to you – and most probably say "Aye!").

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Author's Note: This might be a one-shot or I may add further parts about other characters if inspiration strikes.

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Pirates of the Caribbean:

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After The Curtain Has Dropped

By

Starzangel

Night was drawing in fast, darkening the waves and bringing with it a piercing chill. At the _Black Pearl_'s helm, Captain Jack Sparrow's hands were growing numb and he was finding it difficult to hold onto the wheel. He shivered and pulled his buttoned up coat closer around his neck. His eyes watered slightly and the healing cut across his left palm ached under its grubby bandage. The deck ahead of him blurred and he swayed out of synch with his ship.

Frowning with irritation, the pirate captain forced his frozen hands to grip the wheel tighter and his eyes to refocus.

Fortunately, a figure chose to approach him from behind at the same moment as he collapsed. The young woman caught the slight frame of her exhausted captain under the arms and prevented him from hitting the deck.

"Jack?" Anamaria worriedly tried to search him for an unknown injury, while supporting most of his weight.

His mind clearing, Jack struggled to get his feet back under him and lurched out of Anamaria's hold and against the wheel.

He unsteadily turned around to face her, his back resting against the helm and his hands gripping it tightly to keep him from sliding to the floor.

Anamaria's eyes finished their examination of the pirate captain and, with relief, concluded that there was nothing seriously wrong with him.

"You need to go to bed, Captain," she told him, sternly.

"I'm fine right here," Jack insisted, and shakily repositioned himself so that his back was to her again and his ship's wheel in his hands in front of him.

Anamaria sighed. "You haven't left the helm since we hauled you aboard at Port Royal. That was eight hours ago."

Jack stared obstinately ahead, shifting the ship's course marginally.

"No one's going to take her away from you, Jack. She'll still be yours when you wake up." Anamaria laid a hand on his shoulder and turned him back around to face her, making him meet her eyes. "I promise."

Dark-rimmed, brown eyes stared into hers, wanting to believe her. She looked unwaveringly back, her hand still lying softly on his arm.

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Trust me, she silently urged.

In a deeper place, so deep neither of them yet realised it was there, another soundless phrase was spoken: _I love you_.

Without consciously comprehending why, Captain Jack Sparrow found himself willing to believe Anamaria.

By tomorrow it was likely that the connection they felt at this moment would have worn off. It wasn't a long-term arrangement, but it was enough for that night. Under the bright stars, with the air cold on their cheeks and the only noises the splashes of the waves, the creaks of the ship and the sound of each other's breathing, it was easy to believe, easy to trust. Both of them knew that, come the light of day, reality would return. Friendship had to be earned and put to the test, before becoming sound.

Yet, the foundations had been set.

Captain Jack Sparrow didn't resist when Anamaria gently pulled him away from the wheel, motioning another crewman into his place. He didn't object when she took him below deck to his cabin. Not one protest rose to his lips or stiffened his movements, as she quietly slipped off his clothes until he stood before her only in his breeches. Without the hint of a complaint, he accepted the tender and light kiss that her lips brushed on his cheek.

"Thank you," he murmured into her long dark hair, so softly she only just heard. Then he stepped back.

"Sleep well," she wished him quietly, smiling.

Their eyes met again, just for an instant.

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Give it time.

Hmm, not yet.

One day.

His eyes followed her as she left his cabin.

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AN 2: This has turned out more romantic than I originally intended. It was supposed to just be angst, but then Jack and Anamaria started to get closer than was planned. Well, if that's what they want, who am I to stop them? ;)


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